A favorable 11-game stretch concludes Monday night for the Portland Trail Blazers, and the club didn’t take advantage of the good fortune.
The Trail Blazers host the Atlanta Hawks to conclude a span in which 10 of 11 games were at home over a 21-day stretch. Portland is just 4-6 during a time when a Jan. 17 game at the Denver Nuggets marks the only occasion it had to leave town.
The Trail Blazers received another break for Saturday’s clash with the Toronto Raptors. Portland was well-rested after not playing since Wednesday and the Raptors were playing the second night of a road back-to-back, having lost 129-117 to the Golden State Warriors on Friday night in San Francisco.
But it was Toronto that looked refreshed while bolting to a 30-7 lead and posting an easy 123-105 victory over the Trail Blazers.
Lillard scored 30 points against Toronto three nights after putting up a season-best 60 in a 134-124 home win over the Utah Jazz.
He made a 3-pointer to pull Portland within 94-90 with 8:41 remaining but the Raptors rattled off 14 straight points to seal it.
Portland was outrebounded 45-27 while playing without Jusuf Nurkic (calf) and Josh Hart (hamstring). Both are listed as day-to-day.
The Hawks have lost three of their past four games as they open a five-game road trip.
Atlanta fell 120-113 to the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday when it had no answer on how to stop Kawhi Leonard, who made five 3-pointers while scoring 32 points. The Clippers were 19 of 39 from 3-point range.
Star guard Trae Young said Paul George (23 points) joined Leonard in being a big problem for Atlanta.
Young recorded 31 points and 10 assists but didn’t make a 3-pointer for the fourth time in six games. He missed both attempts against the Clippers and is 4 of 25 during the stretch.
Young does have four straight double-doubles and five overall during the span.
Monday’s meeting is the first of two between the teams this season. The clubs split six meetings over the previous three campaigns.
